Can Guitar Hero Help You Learn Real Electric Guitar?
Guitar Hero is a fun game, especially when you have a few beers and some friends over, but… The whole culture surrounding it is a little ridiculous. Even the biggest GH fan can get a little embarrassed when they hear friends talk about getting together every single weekend for “Rock Band band practice”. Not a typo, that second “band” is intentional. Good friendships have been ruined when someone forgot to show up for pretend band practice.
If you’ve never felt slightly embarrassed seeing fellow gamers taking themselves too seriously, then stop reading right now. On the other hand, if you watched that kid on Ellen and thought “Why not have a REAL 12 year old guitarist on the show?” then maybe it’s time you tried your hand at a real electric guitar.
The first time you fiddle around with a real electric guitar, you should know that it’s really nothing at all like Guitar Hero. The only similarity in how the two are played, is, well, the game will help you develop finger dexterity, but honestly, that’s the least important thing for a serious guitarist…
Real Guitar Is Easier
If you play The Ramones on Guitar Hero, you’ll notice that the game has you moving your fingers up and down the fret to play the same note over and over again. Besides being kind of silly to have you move your hands just to play one note, this is actually much more difficult than playing a real Ramones song: Put your fingers on the top two strings and strum. Really, punk rock is easier than tying your shoes. Even more complex stuff, like say, All Along the Watchtower… You can start from scratch and learn how to play any song in a day’s time.
You’re More Free
Guitar Hero really gives you no wiggle room. As such, you might consider it to be good training for a guitarist, but terrible training for a MUSICIAN. The fun in guitar isn’t learning songs you like and playing them note for note. The fun in guitar is learning songs you like and then putting your own twist on it. It tells you to play the C chord, maybe you play C flat to give it a different sound. Maybe you bend the note or do some hammer-ons and pull-offs of your own design. Guitar Hero is fun, but it will never be a form of self expression.
And there’s one key similarity between the two…
It Costs About the Same
The cost of the game, the controllers and the console vs. The cost of a guitar and an amp is pretty much an even equation. Heck if you shop around, you might spend less on the guitar and amp than you did on the game disc alone. So if the reason you don’t own a real guitar yet is because you don’t have the money: Stop making excuses.
If you really want to rock, then the next time a new Guitar Hero is released, take the money you were gonna spend on it and buy a guitar, instead. Start with the Axe and the amp, learn some blues and power chords and you’ll be jamming the minute you get the thing home. From there you can learn more complex stuff, you can pick up some fuzz pedals and what have you, but it all begins with the guitar.
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categories: guitar entertainment,learn guitar,music hobbies,electronic games,learn instrument,music,guitar,electronics,hobbies
